Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud is the seventh son of the King of Saudi Arabia, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. He is also the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, so de facto ruler, of the country. He came to the position of power on the back of a putsch in 2017 which ousted the previous Crown Prince and led to as many as five hundred upper echelon Saudi’s being arrested or put under house arrest or some form of confinement. These included members of the Royal Family, Politics, Military, Business, Media, and even Islamic Scholars.
Some reports suggest the previous Crown Prince, Muhammed bin Nayef, was held against his will and pressured for hours to surrender any claim to the throne. The nature of the pressure is not given. However, reporting which did leak out painted a picture of a ruthless take over by bin Salman and some people seemed to have disappeared.
The following year there was a crackdown on many engaged in perceived dissidence. This included the notorious assassination of Saudi-born, USA-based journalist Jamal Kashoggi inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. The conclusion that Crown Prince bin Salman had ordered the murder brought further international opprobrium
In 2019 the public execution of 37 people increased the negative view of Saudi Arabia. Many ‘confessions’ were the result of torture, and one of those executed was still a minor when originally arrested.
Added to these are the way Crown Prince bin Salman is seen to be a significant operator in how Saudi Arabia has positioned itself in both the Yemen and Syrian civil wars, and the diplomatic breach with Qatar. After only two years in control Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman and Saudi Arabia were increasingly malodorous on the world stage. Something by way of an air freshener was required.
Possibly the construction of multiple huge stadia in nearby Qatar offered a germ of an idea. Even then excitement for the 2022 Football World Cup was growing and disconcerting news about work and living conditions for the many foreign builders never seemed to be able to overshadow eager anticipation for the event. Human rights conditions as poor as Saudi Arabia’s were also successfully swept away by the prospect of this massive sporting event.
What made golf a viable prospect is beyond the publicly available information set I have access to. But golf IS the sport which was decided upon.
The early framework for what would become LIV Golf came about in 2019. It wasn’t the first time a new tour had been suggested. The idea has been around since at least the early-to-mid nineties – television coverage and backers were even been arranged for one, before the PGA flexed their money and legal muscle to quash it. But this time the money was being put up by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).
Currently estimated to be valued at £514,000,000,000 (or $620 billion dollars), the PIF has pockets deep enough to outspend a sporting body like the PGA, and its DP World Tour counterpart. This is a fund so large that it was comfortable in ignoring the considered opinion of its investment experts and provide $2B (about 0.3% of value) to a brand new investment firm run by Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of former US President, Donald Trump. Beyond having no previous track record in the field, Jared is also a practicing Modern Orthodox Jew, either may have been thought sufficient to prevent such investemtn.
It should be noted, that Crown Prince bin Salman has significant sway in how the PIF places funds, should he so desire to use it.
When LIV Golf finally launched in 2022 it was with 8 tournaments, and a prize fund so large that a player could receive $1,000,000 for losing every tournament. Not bad for being the worst player 8 times. As it happened, of the 68 players on the rosta by the end of that first season, 11 never played in any tournaments, and still received between $120-316,000. Only 6 players who took part in only a single event received under $1m – ranging from $405-846,000. The top five players all earned in excess of $10m
The 2023 schedule has been increased to 14 events and the prize money has increased as well.
However, the launch was not smooth, not uncontested. While initial discussions with the PGA had been with the intention of launching in partnership together, the head of the PGA, Jay Monahan, soon came out against such an idea. By the time LIV was being announced, there was a corresponding announcement that players who joined would be ineligible to play any PGA tournament, would be stripped of World Ranking Points, and not be in line for selection in teams for either the Ryder Cup, or Olympics.
Law suits ensued. Bitter words were exchanged. Players who initially refused LIV overtures later changed their mind.
On the subject of bitter words, PGA chief Jay Monahan labelled the Saudi backing as blood money. He invoked the Saudi nationality of fifteen of the nineteen September 11, 2001 attackers, and the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, in saying that players who went to LIV were accepting blood money, and complicit in ‘sportswashing’ for the regime of Crown Prince bin Salman.
A course looked set for the old guard and the new challengers to slug things out in the courts. At stake would be things like the right of a governing body to limit the working potential of its members, or who has the authority to set criteria for qualification for national teams, and how such criteria should be accounted. Years long legal proceedings were anticipated, with many acrimonious back-and-forth exchanges.
Then, out of nowhere, it was announced that the PGA, DP World Tour, and the Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund would be creating a single operation to run the commercial arm of all men’s golf globally.
Dedicated PGA golfers Justin Rose and Rory McIlroy were paired together for the first round of the Canadian Open at the Oakdale Course in Toronto when they heard the news. After teeing off they began chatting about it, but decided to stop and concentrate on their golf, and find out the full details when their round ended. Colin Morikawa tweeted to let the world know he heard the news on twitter.
While the PGA and DP World Tour websites soon had details of the agreement on their webpages, LIV Golf’s website still had no mention of the new arrangement as of 22:30 pm on June 12th.
There has been reporting that Jay Monahan received calls to quit his position based on the abrupt volte face to accept money from the PIF. Considering his explicitly stated views it would not be surprising that some constituent parts of his organisation take exception to negotiations conducted so secretly that only a handful of people were privy to them, and only four in person meetings occurred between the negotiating parties.
Here’s The Thing, as blindsided as most people were, even those intimately involved with the creation and running of LIV, there is a Social Media post from July 2022 which predicted this very event. Former US president called a MERGER (sic) between PGA and LIV as inevitable
How could President Trump make such a decisive statement?
My guess would be that Crown Prince bin Salman was so incensed by the rebuff and rebuke from Jay Monahan that he decided to bide his time, and then wield a stick made of the largest of finacial clout. I surmise that he shared his decision with the former US president.
With Monahan twisting in a storm created by his own words, and financial worldwide control of men’s golf within reach, the Crown Prince would seem to have vengeance for any perceived slight from Monahan.
Of course, with the top line decision seemingly made, now comes the hard work.
Firstly, how will the three tours operate? In the short term it is said there will no change in the relative cards and for the remainder of 2023 that would seem a sensible option. With so much work being required for tournaments it may even be that 2024's cards will see little in the way of adjustment. The biggest likely amendment being to who is allowed to play where and under what circumstances.
Beyond that I foresee a change to what we currently understand to be the Men's Major Tournaments. At present three of them are in the United States, and one in Britain. The Saudi Sovereign Wealth fund, who are the money behind LIV, are unlikely to be content with that remaining the case. Don't be surprised if The Masters, PGA, US Open, and British Open are joined by a Saudi located 72-hole tournament and one or two LIV 54-hole 'Major' tournaments to be shared around LIV tour locations.
If, that is, the merger is able to be brought to fruition.
Will the PGA and DP World Tour be able to sell the idea of the merger to their members? Money is a powerful force, and Saudi Arabia has a huge amount to throw around. A number of current players have already jumped at the chance to become ‘rich beyond the dreams of avarice’, for an average person. With the blessing of those tasked to guide and promote the game, further largesse being bestowed on those who resisted that first offering of cash may be enough to convince a majority of players to accept the change of direction, even if a fully considered route map has yet to be discussed, never mind finalised.
A further potential spanner in the finalising of any deal may come from external forces. The United States Senate has requested details of the ongoing negotiations. Some members are concerned about a nation state taking control of a significant US sporting institution, and the potential ramifications. It is also known that the investigation into former President Trump by Special Council Jack Smith has included a subpoena for documents relating to his dealings with LIV Golf.
While no similar announcements have come from the European Union, it would not be a surprise if they too are considering investigating the deal and its ramifications.
It is unlikely that the deal announced with such surprise and gusto a week ago will proceed smoothly. Between vested interests, regulatory inquiry, and internal disputes, the process to create the single commercial owner of men's world golf will endure as many lawsuits as were slated to be between warring factions.
Whatever the outcome of the negotiations, investigations, and ongoing shenanigans it is going to be interesting to watch the proceedings.
In all of this there is something which has been completely overlooked by all parties, or certainly, not spoken about. At the end of my original article about the creation of the tour I stated: Surely, in the twenty-first century, creating opportunities where only one gender can benefit should be a thing of the past.
How is it that there has been no mention of women's golf sharing in the riches?
Of course, it's possible that the LPGA has been approached, but decided against partnering with a wealth fund from a country where women would not be permitted to publicly play the game.